Magnesium pemoline: facilitation of maze learning when administered in pure dimethylsulfoxide.

MAGNESIUM PEMOLINE : FACILITATION OF MAZE LEARNING WHEN ADMINISTERED IN PURE DIMETHYLSULFOXIDE* Donald G. Stein, John J . Brink and Arthur Patterron Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts (Received 12 October 1967 ; in final form 30 November 1967) Recent studies attempting to facilitate teaming with magnesium pemoline have provided conflicting results . Lack of an effect on teaming has been reported for both man and animals (i) . Othershave attributed observed improvements in teaming to the fact that pemoline acts as a mild central nenrous system atimula~t (2) . It has also been proposed that magnesium pemoline acts to facilitate teaming by increasing the amount of RNA available in the brain for memory storage (3) . One mason for the inconsistency may be that the drug is administered in differont amounts, and by different routes (e.g ., orally or by introperitoneal injection) in the various studies . In addition, most investigators have suspended the magnesium pemoline in either gum tragacanth or methyl cellulose solutions because of the poor solubility of this drug in water . It has been shown that a suspension of pemoline (without Mg (OH)2 ) in gum trogacanth does not reach the brain or circulate in the bloodstream in the same quantity as when completely dissolved in pure dimethylwlfoxide (DMSO) (4) . The purpose of the present study was to determine whether magnesium pemoline dissolved in 100 peroent DMSO solution, and administered intraperitoneally, would